The most helpful favourable review

The most helpful critical review

5.0 out of 5 starsGreat prequel!
Very good intro to the wonderful series Battlestar Galactica. Well done indeed! Well thought out and presented. Made to make you want more!!

Published on Dec 26 2012 by Ihor G. Kutash

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 starsIt's not exactly oatmeal
This series is hard to pin down; some things are pretty cool, like the cyberpunk "V-World" reminiscent of William Gibson's Neuromancer. Some are hit and miss, like the whiny rebellion of the teenage main characters. And others either take a lot of getting used to or are just plain off-the-mark, like Jo Adama being a gangster, moreso than a lawyer.

This series is hard to pin down; some things are pretty cool, like the cyberpunk "V-World" reminiscent of William Gibson's Neuromancer. Some are hit and miss, like the whiny rebellion of the teenage main characters. And others either take a lot of getting used to or are just plain off-the-mark, like Jo Adama being a gangster, moreso than a lawyer.

Remember those old commercials with the irate Scottish guy, happily eating a box of oatmeal-flavoured cereal, but all the while still insisting that "IT'S NOT OATMEAL!"? To the discerning fan's Scottish tastebuds, Caprica is like the cereal and BSG is like a piping-hot bowl of oatmeal. That is to say, if you loved BSG, you're going to want to watch this. And you won't hate it.

Enjoyed immensely, Addictive viewing! Caps in fills in nicely with the rest of the series. Well worth getting and well worth watching. This series can cause a marathon of viewing, so be prepared to watch more than one or two in a day.

Caprica is a great show in its own right. It poignantly addresses contemporary issues of morality, technology, corporate ambition, ideological idealism and religious fundamentalism. These are all issues relevant to modern society, which we will continue to face over the course of the 21st century and beyond (if we don't all die in a horrible holocaust). If you don't know the premise of the show, I encourage you to read other peoples' fine reviews and synapses of Caprica.

That said, Caprica will never be Battlestar Galactica. Caprica, as its producers have said, does not attempt to be another BSG. People who complain that it's not as good as BSG are only doing justice to the fact that there may never be anything as original or well executed as BSG. The way I see it, BSG is God and Caprica is Deputy God! It follows the entirely new and different approach to the sci-fi/drama style that Ron Moore and David Eick introduced with BSG. I love good sci-fi, and this show is outstanding sci-fi/drama. I'm just overjoyed that I have something exceptionel to look forward to, given that BSG is over.

The DVD release of Season 1.0 is simple and efficient. You get 4 discs in one regular sized DVD case, which makes it lean and compact (very important these days). The extended pilot is included on disc 1. The anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) image and dolby digital (5.1) sound quality are top-notch. There are also new extras on discs 2, 3 and 4 including new video blogs and shorts on the production and cast of Caprica. The extras on disc 1 are the same as those on the original pilot release. There are unfortunately no insert sleeves, which is typical of the Battlestar line of DVDs, but whatever.

All in all it is priced a little too high for 8 hrs. 54 mins., but we've become accustomed to getting cheesed like this by Universal, as in BSG season 2.0, 2.5, 4.0 and 4.5. Once again, whatever. I chose to pay the full $40 (plus tax) at my local HMV since the Amazon.ca price was only $2.00 less (plus shipping), and particularly because I want to ENCOURAGE UNIVERSAL TO KEEP INVESTING IN THE SHOW. Some of you may know that there were rumours a few months ago of the show being cancelled even before Seasons 2.0 and 2.5. (in fact I think the rumours are still around). This terrifies me. I really want the studios to give Ron Moore and David Eick the ability to complete their vision for this show, so I think at this critical junction those of you who are fans should break open your wallet and dish out the cash for this product, not just to convince Universal that it'll make them money, but because you owe it to the show and yourself to have this wonderfullly creative original work in your collection.

Caprica is the best kind of sci-fi. It's scary because it's plausible. It's humanistic for it's willingness to put human spirituality under the magnifying glass, and that is a great strength. Caprica is a show that requires thought, but delivers much fodder to think about. It's disappointing that we only got one season, but it's a very capable opening chapter to the sad path of humanity in the BSG universe.